BEAVER SKIN TANNING & HAT SEWING

Beaver Skin Tanning & Hat Sewing in Northern Ireland

Before the advent of modern tanning agents, humans were turning raw skin into usable leather products using fundamental techniques and materials. Come learn to produce incredibly soft, strong, and durable leather from raw animal skin using humankind’s earliest tanning technologies! We will utilise readily available materials from the surrounding environment as we walk through the steps of this transformation. You will learn the progression of this process from raw skin right through to sewing a beautiful, finished fur hat!

Days 1 and 2: This workshop will focus on tanning Beaver furs using a combination of wet-scraping and dry-scraping techniques. We will tan beautiful North American Beaver furs utilizing a variety of fat-tanning methods that employ Lecithin and oil as the dressing agent. Whilst not for the squeamish, the final product is worth the work!

The class will cover rehydrating dried furs, de-fleshing, thinning out thick areas of the skin, applying the tanning solution (dressing), softening the skins, and smoking them so they can be more easily washed.

In addition to enthusiastic instruction, I provide comfortable, easy-to-use tools and detailed handouts covering the tanning process, as well as ethnographic anecdotes and a list of helpful literature for those who wish to further their own knowledge of tanning!

Days 3 and 4: You will learn how to measure for and make your hat pattern. We will cover laying the pattern out in the correct orientation on the fur so that the fur lies in an aesthetically pleasing way, and how to stitch the pieces together. By evening, you will be well on your way to completing a warm, cosy fur hat, custom-made to fit you!

Please join me for a course sure to contain plenty of memorable moments, lots of practical information, and, provided you put in the work **, one that will see you heading home with a one-of-a-kind Beaver fur hat, tanned and sewn by your own hand into a functional work of art!

* The use of brains or egg yolks as an alternative dressing agent will be covered.

** Please be aware that a reasonable amount of fitness is required for this course. I will provide instruction on good technique and timing for fur tanning, but you will need to be on your feet and active for 6 to 8 hours per day.

Learning Outcomes:

• Preserving raw furs for future use

• Thinning thick skins

• Fat tanning small hair-on skins/furs.

• Using smoke in the tanning process.

• Chemistry behind the tanning magic, so you can better problem-solve during future tanning projects.

• Understanding basic pattern making, how does something 2-dimensional transform to cover something 3-dimensional?

• Basic stitches are used for sewing soft leather.

• Discussion and examples of different threads available before the industrial era.

Any serious injuries need to be discussed with me before attending the course, please!

Additional Information:

Payment: You can pay by credit card, use one of our gift cards, or pay over time with PayPal Pay Later.

Duration: 4 days (Thursday 9:00 am - Sunday ± 5:00 pm)

Group size: Min 6 - Max 12

Prerequisites: None

Date: August 20th - 23rd 2026

Venue: Wildwalk Bushcraft, Northern Ireland

Catering: This course is self-catered. I am many things, but a good cook is not one of them!

Included: All course materials, coffee/tea

Not included: Off-site Accommodation, food

A bit about me:

I'm an avid practitioner of traditional living skills and of all kinds of primitive technology. My interest came in part from growing up in the USA's Rocky Mountains, where backpacking, hunting, and fishing are deeply rooted in the culture. This passion led me to the academic field of Experimental Archaeology, where I earned a PhD from the University of Exeter in the UK.

My work has been featured in both documentaries and popular TV shows, including Alone Season 8 and Surviving the Stone Age. I've been tanning skins using traditional methods for over 30 years. Learning to tan was a natural offshoot of my desire to use as much of an animal as possible, and it had the added bonus of producing a beautiful end product.

In my instruction, I share a wide range of information—from the intricate details of skin morphology to helpful tips for dealing with the numerous, frustrating problems often encountered when you're first learning to tan.